Month: March 2018

His heart stopped the day the clock stopped ticking. It’s been ticking in his head since he was born, and now it’s stopped. What does it mean? Had he finally gone insane? Had he gone deaf? The next thing he knew, a blinding light shone across his city, and then the world. Once it disappeared, he looked around him and noticed everyone standing still. As he approached a woman next to him, she looked perfectly preserved. But when he touched her skin, it was a cold hard plastic. Silence never felt so loud.

Don’t forgot that Fliers is available now on both paperback and eBook! Buy it here!

So, I was going to write my prompt… a couple days ago actually. I’m not being consistent with it, but ya know what? I don’t really care. The days I’m not writing the prompts (which are hit and miss) I have started writing the second installment of the Fliers series. If I’m not writing, I’m thinking about it. And I count that.

Besides that, I decided to do something a little different today. I had a very realistic dream last night and I wanted to share. I looked up what the dream could possibly mean, and let’s just say I’m a little more than confused. I don’t usually take dreams literally, but I do like to know what they mean, because they are structured how they are for a reason. At least, I think so. Anyways, I’ll describe the dream in as much detail as I can remember, and then I’ll go over what the internet says it means.

Disclosure: I have dreams about fish, fish tanks and owning A LOT of fish tanks, all around a home I’m in. Filled with all kinds of different creatures. However, this is the first one that actually had an octopus in it.

I was at a store, like a pet store I guess. And right in the middle of the store was the tank that was more vertical than horizontal like you would be used to seeing. Well, in the tank were four little octopi (sp?). They were small, an orangey red color and all at the bottom of the tank just hanging out. I went to take a couple (because of my weird fish obsession) and I was afraid to grab them. I don’t know why I thought I could only grab them by the head, but the heads were so soft and squishy. I was afraid I would hurt them. And with each one I took out, the water level went down a lot. And at this point, I felt I needed to rescue them, with a fear of the water running out. But I still only took two. Then suddenly, I put them in a cart, along with two hamsters I was getting too. But then I remembered I already had hamsters that I didn’t take care of very much.

Side Note: I’ve had a few dreams with a cage that I’ve had hamsters in. And I always feel immensely guilty because I wasn’t taking care of them–you know with food and water and stuff. But they were still alive and well. When I was getting more hamsters at the store, I thought of them; the forgotten rodents in the corner of my imaginary house.

But yeah, that’s the whole dream, at least the part that I remembered. On to the interpretation:

The first thing I read (according to one single article that I can’t copy and paste so I’ll paraphrase) was that any octopus in dreams mean bad luck. It will drag you away from your projects, or represents someone getting in your way of finishing anything successfully. It will be devastating to your professional career and it will be difficult to get back on track.

Okay, pardon my french, but god damn. This could not be more depressing, ESPECIALLY because I just published my first book. Basically it’s saying that it won’t go well, or someone will to try to rip it off (possibly copyright stuff) and cause me major issues. Ah, my heart. It hurts.

But… then I read something else, on the same page, about small octopus:

A small octopus means a small success you may achieve. It can be related to your career, sometimes personal, but mostly your job. It won’t be a major success, but it will be at the very least–motivation.

….See what I mean? Confusing. I think I am going to use the small octopus analogy because they were very small, considering most sea octopus are ginormous. This makes me happier, if so. Again, because of my new book. I am not expecting it to be a major success, but a minor, and I’m totes okay with that. 🙂 ##

Full Disclosure

They toured the house with the real estate agent.
“We love it,” he said. “Is there anything we should know about the house’s past?” The agent looked down.

Mary Ellen met up with her two clients, Nick and Regina in front of a large three story home with a For Sale sign out front. She was excited to be showing them this house because it’s been on the market for years. It was fixed up a lot since it was put on the market, and many clients have come and went. But, she was hopeful that this couple would be the ones to finally buy it.

She showed them around the entire house, talking it up more than she ever has. Even found out their favorite food and had it baking in the oven when they arrived. The couple joined her downstairs after analyzing the rest of the house.

“Well? What do you think?” she asked with a bright smile.

“We love it!” Nick said. “But is there anything we should know about the house’s past?”

Mary Ellen’s smile faded and she looked down at the wood floor. The one question she prayed they wouldn’t ask. It may look like a gorgeous house now, but back then, terrible things happened. She couldn’t live with herself by not telling these nice people the real story behind it.

“About fifty years ago, this woman lived all by herself for most of her life. She was very anti-social but loved cats. Rumor was that she had well over a hundred of them living here. Well, the poor woman eventually died when she was in her 90’s…” she cleared her throat. “The cats were without an owner, meaning, they were without food. In order for her felines to survive they… well…”

“They ate her?!” Regina said aghast.

Mary Ellen closed her eyes and nodded her head slightly.

“Um, yeah, I think we’ll pass. Sorry,” Nick said. They couple hurried as fast as they could out of the door.

She stood there with a sunken look. “I’m never gonna sell this damn house.”

Back from the Future

A knock at the door catches you off guard. Upon answering it, you’re greeted by a man who says he’s from the future—and he can prove it. More important, he says he has information that will save your life.

I wake up startled at a loud banging on my front door. My dogs go crazy at the noise at only 2:30 in the morning. Who could be at my door right now? I’ve been here for a month and haven’t made any new friends yet. Even then, I don’t want friends who wake me up in the middle of night; unless it’s an emergency. They rapidly bang the door again and my heart jumps. I grab a plastic bat that I keep next to the bed and head down the hallway. I peek out of the curtains next to the door and my heart stops. It’s my ex. But something isn’t right. I put the bat down and open the door for him and he stares at me like he just escaped the loony bin.

“Garrett? What the hell are you doing here?” I ask.

“Emily! Listen to me. I don’t have a lot of time,” he says as he let himself in.

He slams the door and grabs my shoulders. “I’m from the future. 30 years, actually.”

My face lets out a grin and I laugh. Garrett has always been a tad eccentric, but this is just nuts.

He searches around in his pockets and pulls out something very intriguing. It’s a photo of me and him, but I look different. Older. I wasn’t buying it.

“That’s called photoshop. Not impressed,” I say as I glance at it quickly.

“No, it’s not photoshop. That’s us in 20 years. In this city.” He paused and took a deep breath. “This was the last time I saw you… And it’s why I’m here. You need to leave this place. It’s going to end up killing you.”

“What are you talking about? How can a city kill me?”

“Bare with me, Em…” he starts. “The new job you have here ends up taking you to all kinds of places. Egypt, Japan, New York, Rome and where I live, Ireland. Long story short, we run into each other and get back together. After several happy years together, we settled here at your place. But while I was off doing and engineering job in Tuscany, you were here at your home base. And the largest earthquake on record happened and… it killed you, babe.”

I listen to his story and roll my eyes. “That’s crazy. You’re crazy.”

“Emily, stop. I’m not kidding.” He took out another photo and hesitated to give it to me. “I didn’t want to show you, but I was able to find this after the incident.”

He hands over the picture and it’s so real that my lungs forget how to breath. It’s extremely graphic, but I am able to see my face—and my body being crushed by this very house.

“You really are from the future…”

“That’s what I’m telling you. You need to leave this place. Now.”

“Yeah, sure. But–how did you time travel?” I ask.

“‘Cause I’m a genius.” He smiled.

I can tell he smiled for more than just one reason. Not only because he knew how to time travel, but because he may have just won me back. I pack up the unpacked boxes and I was gone the next day, with Garrett.

Alphabet Poem

Write a 26-line poem using all the letters of the alphabet. Have the first line start with the letter “A,” the second “B,” the third “C,” etc.

A lone leaf blows in the wind. Blowing to wherever life takes him. Cats and their offspring try to catch him, but he’s too quick to be pinned. Darting from their grasp, he slips away like a wet fin.

Envious is the branch, unable to fly free. Feeling confined and useless, he sheds another leaf. Gallons of water pour from the clouds, filling him with glee. Healing the envy and feeling relief.

In only a few acorns below, stands a yellow flower. Just singing a song and basking in the downpour. Kindness radiates from her petals of power. Love and compassion is what she lives for.

Mighty is the tree that stands tall and wide. Nurturing and terrifying are the roles he plays. Oblivious to his needs, he can take you down without blinking an eye. Play the cards right and a shelter he stays.

Quick and rambunctious, squirrels play sideways along the bark. Randomly chasing each other, and hiding their food. Satisfied and full, nuts are buried for later in the park. They will fail to find them later though, when they’re in the mood.

Unlike the rodents, a red bird chips in the sky. Vermillion flycatcher lands on a nest, filled with eggs. With a simple call to the mother, she joins him while the sun is still high. Xander the Flycatcher emerges into the world and stands on his own two legs.

Youngsters play in the yard, while my body lays here, completely numb. Zoning out on the couch, I take another pill and continue watching the fantasy playing in my head like a rerun.

Well, that took a bit of a dark turn…

This was fun though! Do you think you can do this challenge?! I wanna see! ##